Here is the penultimate example of the power of Internet for collaboration and creation, and for pushing the boundaries on the possible. Eric Whitaker created a choral piece with 185 singers from 12 countries, each singing their part to musical accompaniment while he conducted, and then combining their video and audio. Amazing!
Here is the link to Eric Whitaker's blog where he explains how the recording was made. This is the potential we offer our children when we teach them how to use technology to explore their own interests, to connect with others, and to participate in the creation of new knowledge!
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Web 2.0 Applications for the Musically Inclined
Recently, a reader commented that her daughter is very interested in music and technology. There are a number of online applications for music creation that students will enjoy. Piano and music teachers will find these programs innovative and useful, too!
NoteFlight is an online music notation system which enables users to compose, create, view, and hear music notation, collaborate with others, and share their music. The application is free for individual users and does not require you to download anything. Music teachers may be interested in Noteflight Learning Edition which works with the Haiku Learning Management System. With this fully web-based system, music teachers can post assignments, assess student work, lead class discussions, engage in online music composition and more. Noteflight Learning Edition does have a fee schedule based on number of classes and students, but does not require any downloads. I am definitely not a musician (as you will be able to tell from this demo I made):
Thounds is an online music platform and social network where you can record your original music just by using a microphone or plugging your instrument into your computer. Once you post your sample, other users from all around the world can add to or contribute to your basic recording. The idea is to share musical ideas and inspiration and to collaborate with others to create original music. Again, it's free and there's no downloading! Watch this demo from the Thounds web site.
Kisstunes enables users to create and record tunes online using their qwerty keyboard. Easy-Peasy! You can store your work online and share with family and friends. Again, it's free, free, free, and no downloads!
JamStudio The Online Music Studio allows you to create and mix your own music, add instrumentation,and experiment with different styles and sounds. Accounts are free; however, with an inexpensive 6 month all access pass*, you own the rights to the songs you create and can have MP3 mixes mailed to you for unlimited use. Educational grants are available for classroom use. I have emailed JamStudio about grants for homebschoolers, and will post an update when I receive a reply.
* Always, always, always read the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Policies and Procedures for Copyright violation (all may be included in one statement or they may be in separate statements). Some of these sites retain the right to use your creation on their web site or in their network of services. Before you share or allow others to edit, add to, or change your music, make sure you understand your rights to the content you create and how it may be used by others.
NoteFlight is an online music notation system which enables users to compose, create, view, and hear music notation, collaborate with others, and share their music. The application is free for individual users and does not require you to download anything. Music teachers may be interested in Noteflight Learning Edition which works with the Haiku Learning Management System. With this fully web-based system, music teachers can post assignments, assess student work, lead class discussions, engage in online music composition and more. Noteflight Learning Edition does have a fee schedule based on number of classes and students, but does not require any downloads. I am definitely not a musician (as you will be able to tell from this demo I made):
Thounds is an online music platform and social network where you can record your original music just by using a microphone or plugging your instrument into your computer. Once you post your sample, other users from all around the world can add to or contribute to your basic recording. The idea is to share musical ideas and inspiration and to collaborate with others to create original music. Again, it's free and there's no downloading! Watch this demo from the Thounds web site.
Kisstunes enables users to create and record tunes online using their qwerty keyboard. Easy-Peasy! You can store your work online and share with family and friends. Again, it's free, free, free, and no downloads!
JamStudio The Online Music Studio allows you to create and mix your own music, add instrumentation,and experiment with different styles and sounds. Accounts are free; however, with an inexpensive 6 month all access pass*, you own the rights to the songs you create and can have MP3 mixes mailed to you for unlimited use. Educational grants are available for classroom use. I have emailed JamStudio about grants for homebschoolers, and will post an update when I receive a reply.
* Always, always, always read the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Policies and Procedures for Copyright violation (all may be included in one statement or they may be in separate statements). Some of these sites retain the right to use your creation on their web site or in their network of services. Before you share or allow others to edit, add to, or change your music, make sure you understand your rights to the content you create and how it may be used by others.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Animoto.com
Here is another exciting use of Web 2.o technology for educational purposes. After researching the Baroque Period, my daughter created this Animoto to demonstrate her new knowledge.
Animoto enables users to create short videos or trailers from images or video clips uploaded from their own cameras or from web sites. Then, they can add text and musical accompaniment, either from their own collections or from Animoto's collection, and Animoto creates a professional, animated mix.The process is incredibly quick and easy, and very easy to learn. My daughter grumbled and complained when I first gave her this assignment, thinking it would be really difficult, but her resentment quickly turned to excitement when she realized how easy Animoto is. In order to create a full-length video like this, you have to buy an account ($30 for one year of unlimited videos); however, you can make short, 30 second videos for free!
I have posted the instructions for the Baroque Art Animoto Assignment to my wiki: whitneyswikiways, along with the grading rubric, the written portion of the assignment, and my daughter's references. The written portion is my daughter's analysis and reflection. In the first part, she had to answer specific questions about the Baroque period. Just telling her to find images of Baroque art and architecture would be pointless. She would do a Google search for images and never bother to learn anything. Requiring her to write an analysis forced her to do some research, take some notes, and actually learn something. The reflection gave her an opportunity to think about what she had learned, the research process, and her use of technology.
Requiring a reference page is incredibly important: We need to teach our children respect for for others' intellectual property. We should not allow them to write a report or use images without providing information about their sources. Whenever a student uses a quote, someone else's ideas, or someone's artistic work, they need to provide a citation. I am teaching my daughter APA style. MLA is also an option. Even young children can provide basic information like the author's name and the title of the work.
I encourage you to experiment with Animoto and the other Web 2.0 applications I've highlighted in my blog.
Animoto enables users to create short videos or trailers from images or video clips uploaded from their own cameras or from web sites. Then, they can add text and musical accompaniment, either from their own collections or from Animoto's collection, and Animoto creates a professional, animated mix.The process is incredibly quick and easy, and very easy to learn. My daughter grumbled and complained when I first gave her this assignment, thinking it would be really difficult, but her resentment quickly turned to excitement when she realized how easy Animoto is. In order to create a full-length video like this, you have to buy an account ($30 for one year of unlimited videos); however, you can make short, 30 second videos for free!
I have posted the instructions for the Baroque Art Animoto Assignment to my wiki: whitneyswikiways, along with the grading rubric, the written portion of the assignment, and my daughter's references. The written portion is my daughter's analysis and reflection. In the first part, she had to answer specific questions about the Baroque period. Just telling her to find images of Baroque art and architecture would be pointless. She would do a Google search for images and never bother to learn anything. Requiring her to write an analysis forced her to do some research, take some notes, and actually learn something. The reflection gave her an opportunity to think about what she had learned, the research process, and her use of technology.
Requiring a reference page is incredibly important: We need to teach our children respect for for others' intellectual property. We should not allow them to write a report or use images without providing information about their sources. Whenever a student uses a quote, someone else's ideas, or someone's artistic work, they need to provide a citation. I am teaching my daughter APA style. MLA is also an option. Even young children can provide basic information like the author's name and the title of the work.
I encourage you to experiment with Animoto and the other Web 2.0 applications I've highlighted in my blog.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
More Skills Students Need to Succeed
In my last post, I talked about the importance of giving our home schooled children tests. Being successful on tests requires the development of important skills which will serve our children well in college and beyond.
What are some other skills they need?
This question can be explored from two perspectives: 1) what skills will they need in college, and 2) what skills will they need to succeed in the work place? These questions are deceptively simple. The first focuses on academic skills such as being able to listen to a lecture, take notes, read a textbook or other written material, and engage in self-directed study. The second draws attention to important vocational skills like punctuality, following directions, and getting along with co-workers. When we consider the work environment of the 21st century and the explosion of information, the questions become more complex.
The amount of information in the world is growing at an exponential rate. According to How Much Information? 2003, a study by two scientists at Berkeley, new stored information grew by 30% between 1999 and 2002 and 92% of new information is stored magnetically (primarily on hard discs). This study is now 6 years old, and you know information continues to expand. According to information management industry experts, the amount of information produced annually between 2006 and 2010 was expected to increase more than six times, and the amount of digital information doubles every 18 months.
Our children are growing up in a world in which information is proliferating and more and more communication is digital (through computers, cell phones, laptops, palm pilots, etc). In this world, the goal of education can no longer be knowledge mastery-- there is just too much information, and that information constantly is changing. Consequently, our goal should be to teach our children how to learn rather than what to know.
Our children need to learn:
1. Learning and Innovation Skills
So what should we be teaching our children? Skills! Of course children do need to learn content. They need a base of knowledge against which to evaluate new information and learning, but more importantly, they need to learn how to learn! Our job as home schooling parents is not just to teach them history, science and math. Our job is to use these core subject areas as jumping off points for directed inquiry, guiding our children through the process of raising a question, finding relevant information, evaluating the quality of that information, and analyzing and synthesizing that information to create new knowledge. By preparing our children for the 21st century, we will be creating independent thinkers and problem solvers who are ready to participate in our democracy.
What are some other skills they need?
This question can be explored from two perspectives: 1) what skills will they need in college, and 2) what skills will they need to succeed in the work place? These questions are deceptively simple. The first focuses on academic skills such as being able to listen to a lecture, take notes, read a textbook or other written material, and engage in self-directed study. The second draws attention to important vocational skills like punctuality, following directions, and getting along with co-workers. When we consider the work environment of the 21st century and the explosion of information, the questions become more complex.
The amount of information in the world is growing at an exponential rate. According to How Much Information? 2003, a study by two scientists at Berkeley, new stored information grew by 30% between 1999 and 2002 and 92% of new information is stored magnetically (primarily on hard discs). This study is now 6 years old, and you know information continues to expand. According to information management industry experts, the amount of information produced annually between 2006 and 2010 was expected to increase more than six times, and the amount of digital information doubles every 18 months.
Our children are growing up in a world in which information is proliferating and more and more communication is digital (through computers, cell phones, laptops, palm pilots, etc). In this world, the goal of education can no longer be knowledge mastery-- there is just too much information, and that information constantly is changing. Consequently, our goal should be to teach our children how to learn rather than what to know.
Our children need to learn:
- how to ask questions
- how to find high-quality, relevant information, in both print and digital formats
- how to evaluate and interpret information
- how to analyze and synthesize information to produce new understanding (or knowledge)
- how to use technology to find information and to create information products
- how to collaborate both in-person and on the Web
1. Learning and Innovation Skills
- Creativity and Innovation
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Communication and Collaboration
- Information Literacy
- Media Literacy
- Information, Communications, and Technology Literacy
- Flexibility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Self-direction
- Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
- Productivity and Accountability
- Leadership and Responsibility
So what should we be teaching our children? Skills! Of course children do need to learn content. They need a base of knowledge against which to evaluate new information and learning, but more importantly, they need to learn how to learn! Our job as home schooling parents is not just to teach them history, science and math. Our job is to use these core subject areas as jumping off points for directed inquiry, guiding our children through the process of raising a question, finding relevant information, evaluating the quality of that information, and analyzing and synthesizing that information to create new knowledge. By preparing our children for the 21st century, we will be creating independent thinkers and problem solvers who are ready to participate in our democracy.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Philadelphia Photo Story and Copyright Law
At last, my daughter's Photo Story about visiting The Brandywine Battlefield, Valley Forge and historic Philadelphia!
Song credit: Fennell, F. & The Eastern Wind Ensemble. "Yankee Doodle - Field Music of the US Army ". God Bless America--The Ultimate Patriotic Album. 2002. MP3
This Photo Story took a little longer because I had to learn how to a) download a song from iTunes, b) burn that song to a disc, and c) rip it from my disc to save to my computer. Why? Because even though I purchased the song, iTunes uses Digital Rights Management technology to impose limits on the use of digital content. This prevents the user from playing an iTune on a non-Apple player. It also prevents the user from copying the song directly to Windows Media Player. Fortunately, there is a way to do it. Then, its an easy matter to upload the music from the computer to Photo Story 3.
Copyright Law and Fair Use
Is all of this legal? Ethical? Well, the whole point of copyright protection is to protect the intellectual and creative property rights of an author, composer, artist, or creator. According to Dictionary.com, copyright is "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work". So, technically, even though I purchased this piece of music and provided attribution (a citation), I may be violating copyright law by distributing it on the Internet as a part of my daughter's Photo Story.
But what if I'm using the copyrighted material for education purposes? This is where things get a little tricky. Many educators believe that they can use copyrighted materials under the Fair Use doctrine as long as that use is restricted to instruction. This is not quite true. There are four factors one must consider when determining Fair Use:
1. the purpose or character of the use (i.e., is it for non-profit educational use?),
2. the nature of the copyrighted work (i.e., was it published, out of print, or factual?),
3. how much of the original work was used, and
4. the potential impact on the market for the original work.
In this case, the answers are:
1. the purpose of the use is educational (both for my daughter learning how to use the technology and in this blog which is written for educational purposes),
2. the nature of the work is a creative, published work; however, the song "Yankee Doodle" could be argued to be in the public domain,
3. The entire work was used (twice; typically, the 10% rule should be followed: only 10% or less of the cited work should be used), and
4. the potential impact on the market for the song is negligible.
Based on this analysis, the use of "Yankee Doodle" in this case would most likely be considered legal, but you never know.
Home schoolers using music or other creative works for the purpose of educating their own children probably do not need to worry about copyright law; however, Education World has a wonderful series of articles explaining copyright law and Fair Use.
Song credit: Fennell, F. & The Eastern Wind Ensemble. "Yankee Doodle - Field Music of the US Army ". God Bless America--The Ultimate Patriotic Album. 2002. MP3
This Photo Story took a little longer because I had to learn how to a) download a song from iTunes, b) burn that song to a disc, and c) rip it from my disc to save to my computer. Why? Because even though I purchased the song, iTunes uses Digital Rights Management technology to impose limits on the use of digital content. This prevents the user from playing an iTune on a non-Apple player. It also prevents the user from copying the song directly to Windows Media Player. Fortunately, there is a way to do it. Then, its an easy matter to upload the music from the computer to Photo Story 3.
Copyright Law and Fair Use
Is all of this legal? Ethical? Well, the whole point of copyright protection is to protect the intellectual and creative property rights of an author, composer, artist, or creator. According to Dictionary.com, copyright is "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work". So, technically, even though I purchased this piece of music and provided attribution (a citation), I may be violating copyright law by distributing it on the Internet as a part of my daughter's Photo Story.
But what if I'm using the copyrighted material for education purposes? This is where things get a little tricky. Many educators believe that they can use copyrighted materials under the Fair Use doctrine as long as that use is restricted to instruction. This is not quite true. There are four factors one must consider when determining Fair Use:
1. the purpose or character of the use (i.e., is it for non-profit educational use?),
2. the nature of the copyrighted work (i.e., was it published, out of print, or factual?),
3. how much of the original work was used, and
4. the potential impact on the market for the original work.
In this case, the answers are:
1. the purpose of the use is educational (both for my daughter learning how to use the technology and in this blog which is written for educational purposes),
2. the nature of the work is a creative, published work; however, the song "Yankee Doodle" could be argued to be in the public domain,
3. The entire work was used (twice; typically, the 10% rule should be followed: only 10% or less of the cited work should be used), and
4. the potential impact on the market for the song is negligible.
Based on this analysis, the use of "Yankee Doodle" in this case would most likely be considered legal, but you never know.
Home schoolers using music or other creative works for the purpose of educating their own children probably do not need to worry about copyright law; however, Education World has a wonderful series of articles explaining copyright law and Fair Use.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Our trip to Philadelphia
Recently, we went on an extended field trip to Philadelphia. My husband had a conference to attend, and the kids and I tagged along to go sightseeing. It was the perfect opportunity to see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Betsy Ross house. We have not reached this period in history yet, but we had the opportunity and took advantage of it.
On the first day of our trip, we drove out to Kennett Square in the historic Brandywine Valley, about 45 outside of Philly. Kennett is the home of Longwood Gardens. Pierre duPont, of the duPont chemical company, purchased the land in 1906 from Quaker farmers to preserve an arboretum. He added classical gardens, water fountains, a conservatory, an outdoor theater meadows, and ponds to create the foremost horticultural showplace and educational center in the United States.
When I first told my children we would be visiting Longwood Gardens, they rolled their eyes and groaned, but boy, were they in for a surprise! With its tree houses, fountain show, indoor childrens' garden, model train garden, giant lily pads, banana trees, topiary garden, and carillon tower, Longwood Gardens won them over. We visited for over four hours, and left only because my children could walk no farther. Below is a photo story, created by my daughter, of our day in the gardens. Unfortunately, the batteries in her camera died, and she was unable to get pictures of the tree houses which were spectacular.
Photo Story 3 is a free microsoft product which you can download to your computer. Upload and alter your photos, add text, narration, and sound, and ta da!!! You have a video. Its very easy to use and a great way to record a field trip, the steps in a science project, or tell a story.
My daughter is currently working on a photo story of Valley Forge and Philadelphia. When it is complete, I will upload it so you all can see the wonderful places we visited in Philadephia.
On the first day of our trip, we drove out to Kennett Square in the historic Brandywine Valley, about 45 outside of Philly. Kennett is the home of Longwood Gardens. Pierre duPont, of the duPont chemical company, purchased the land in 1906 from Quaker farmers to preserve an arboretum. He added classical gardens, water fountains, a conservatory, an outdoor theater meadows, and ponds to create the foremost horticultural showplace and educational center in the United States.
When I first told my children we would be visiting Longwood Gardens, they rolled their eyes and groaned, but boy, were they in for a surprise! With its tree houses, fountain show, indoor childrens' garden, model train garden, giant lily pads, banana trees, topiary garden, and carillon tower, Longwood Gardens won them over. We visited for over four hours, and left only because my children could walk no farther. Below is a photo story, created by my daughter, of our day in the gardens. Unfortunately, the batteries in her camera died, and she was unable to get pictures of the tree houses which were spectacular.
Photo Story 3 is a free microsoft product which you can download to your computer. Upload and alter your photos, add text, narration, and sound, and ta da!!! You have a video. Its very easy to use and a great way to record a field trip, the steps in a science project, or tell a story.
My daughter is currently working on a photo story of Valley Forge and Philadelphia. When it is complete, I will upload it so you all can see the wonderful places we visited in Philadephia.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Report on Captain John Smith
My daughter just completed a biography of Captain John Smith on Glogster! Be sure to click on the blue play button to listen to her narrative.
To view a copy of the assignment, including the grading rubric, visit whitneyswikiways.
Edu.glogster.com is a Web 2.0 application that enables you and your students to create posters that include images, graphics, text, sound recordings, and videos (either your own or something uploaded from schooltube). Students can create posters to illustrate their stories, poetry, book reports, biographies, geographical studies... the possibilities are limited by only their imaginations.
The service is free, and you can enroll up to 200 students in one classroom. As the teacher, you control the account and privacy settings, determine what gets published, flag anything that's inappropriate, moderate comments, etc. Here is a tutorial that will help you get started.
To view a copy of the assignment, including the grading rubric, visit whitneyswikiways.
Edu.glogster.com is a Web 2.0 application that enables you and your students to create posters that include images, graphics, text, sound recordings, and videos (either your own or something uploaded from schooltube). Students can create posters to illustrate their stories, poetry, book reports, biographies, geographical studies... the possibilities are limited by only their imaginations.
The service is free, and you can enroll up to 200 students in one classroom. As the teacher, you control the account and privacy settings, determine what gets published, flag anything that's inappropriate, moderate comments, etc. Here is a tutorial that will help you get started.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Voicethread
Okay, here is some information about Voicethread, one of the American Association of School Librarians' Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.
Voicethread is an online network which allows teachers and students to create multimedia slideshows using images, documents, video, and comments (voice, text, audio file, and video via webcam). You can even "doodle" on a slide to make a point or clarify a comment. Take a look at this voicethread I created as a demonstration for a unit on the solar system. It's a little hokey, but you'll get an idea about the potential of this online technology for creating lectures or lessons, collaborative projects, and student demonstrations of learning. Other examples of educational voicethreads can be found at their library.
Home schoolers will really enjoy the opportunities for collaboration. Because Voicethread is an online network, students around the world can work on a project together, each adding and editing content and comments. Here is a voicethread created by students in Utah (2nd grade), Colorado (9th grade) and Texas (5th and sixth grade) using art, creative writing, and music.
Most of the images in my voicethread were obtained from other websites, which was a little laborious, especially when I created the citations page where I provided the web address for each picture. Now, Voicethread has direct access to 700,000 images from the New York Public Library (NYPL), including primary source materials, maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. They also have access to the Flickr Creative Commons Search where you can find images which are not limited by copyright restrictions. Voicethread enables you to search and import images from NYPL and Flickr, and the links are automatically inserted to make citations and attributions.
Voicethread is a social network; however, you, the parent/teacher, control who has access to your account, and how and with whom your voicethreads are shared. You can moderate all comments, and even have the option to disallow comments.
Here's the best part: You can make unlimited voicethreads for free!!! Who believes it? For $10, you can create groups and have access to the controlled K-12 network. And Voicethread provides wonderful support with tutorials, a help manual, blog, and online help. They are very responsive to email requests for help.
Voicethread is an online network which allows teachers and students to create multimedia slideshows using images, documents, video, and comments (voice, text, audio file, and video via webcam). You can even "doodle" on a slide to make a point or clarify a comment. Take a look at this voicethread I created as a demonstration for a unit on the solar system. It's a little hokey, but you'll get an idea about the potential of this online technology for creating lectures or lessons, collaborative projects, and student demonstrations of learning. Other examples of educational voicethreads can be found at their library.
Home schoolers will really enjoy the opportunities for collaboration. Because Voicethread is an online network, students around the world can work on a project together, each adding and editing content and comments. Here is a voicethread created by students in Utah (2nd grade), Colorado (9th grade) and Texas (5th and sixth grade) using art, creative writing, and music.
Most of the images in my voicethread were obtained from other websites, which was a little laborious, especially when I created the citations page where I provided the web address for each picture. Now, Voicethread has direct access to 700,000 images from the New York Public Library (NYPL), including primary source materials, maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. They also have access to the Flickr Creative Commons Search where you can find images which are not limited by copyright restrictions. Voicethread enables you to search and import images from NYPL and Flickr, and the links are automatically inserted to make citations and attributions.
Voicethread is a social network; however, you, the parent/teacher, control who has access to your account, and how and with whom your voicethreads are shared. You can moderate all comments, and even have the option to disallow comments.
Here's the best part: You can make unlimited voicethreads for free!!! Who believes it? For $10, you can create groups and have access to the controlled K-12 network. And Voicethread provides wonderful support with tutorials, a help manual, blog, and online help. They are very responsive to email requests for help.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Techonolgy and Learning
One of the things I'd like to do with this blog is to highlight some of the wonderful online utilities and applications that can be used for educational purposes. Our world is becoming increasingly technology and media-driven, and our computers play a more centralized role. I know that I do more online with each passing day: keep up with my friends and family through e-mails and social networking sites; manage our finances; pay my bills; attend classes at the University of South Carolina; research areas of interests; read and write papers; research consumer information prior to big purchases; shop; find recipes; play games; store and organize photos... the list goes on and on. And the fact is that our children are growing up in a world where technology is ubiquitous. We have cellphones, iphones, ipods, mp3 players, wii, and whole virtual worlds.
We often think that our children take to technology naturally. We ask them to program the TiVo or DVR (whereas we used to rely on them to figure out the VCR). They seem to know how to use all the functions on our cellphones way before we do. They search the Internet without fear and download games and applications. Despite this seeming expertise, they still need us to teach them Internet safety, the responsible use of information, and how to use Internet applications to create, collaborate, and communicate. More than likely, they will need this knowledge when they enter the work world, regardless of the field they enter. Doctors, bank presidents, politicians, plumbers, mechanics, seamstresses, chefs, whatever--they are all using ever-changing technology.
Educators around the world are recognizing the importance of incorporating technology into their lesson plans. Take a look at the National Education Standards promoted by the International Society for Technology in Education. The American Association of School Librarians (of which I am a proud member) has also published information literacy standards which address the use of technology in education.
Online technologies, also known as Web 2.0, provide numerous ways for home schoolers to learn, collaborate, create, and share. Web 2.0 applications include, but are not limited to, social networking sites, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video blogs, content creation applications, photo sharing, virtual worlds, and games. Using technology, homeschoolers can hold live, real-time classes online; video conference; collaborate on projects or assignments; deliver information in a variety of formats; create posters, mosaics, photo albums, stories, videos, etc; publish... the list goes on and on. And the best part it: KIDS LOVE THIS!!! Using online technologies engage kids in learning in ways that traditional methods never will. Ask a kid to write a report and you'll hear a lot of grumbling and complaining. Ask that same child to create a voicethread, wiki, or webquest on that same topic, and they can't wait to start.
Some of you may have noticed the Voicethread project included in the multicultural study of the year 1492. If you didn't look at it in the last post, take a look at it now http://ed.voicethread.com/share/379377/ . My daughter created this all by herself! I gave her the assignment, taught her how to use the technology, and just let her go! She loved this assignment, worked independently with enthusiasm and gusto, and was incredibly proud of the product. She didn't even mind doing all of the necessary reading and research. And boy, did she learn and remember the content. This is just one example of what home schoolers can do with the Internet and Web 2.0. Next time, some more information about Voicethread.
We often think that our children take to technology naturally. We ask them to program the TiVo or DVR (whereas we used to rely on them to figure out the VCR). They seem to know how to use all the functions on our cellphones way before we do. They search the Internet without fear and download games and applications. Despite this seeming expertise, they still need us to teach them Internet safety, the responsible use of information, and how to use Internet applications to create, collaborate, and communicate. More than likely, they will need this knowledge when they enter the work world, regardless of the field they enter. Doctors, bank presidents, politicians, plumbers, mechanics, seamstresses, chefs, whatever--they are all using ever-changing technology.
Educators around the world are recognizing the importance of incorporating technology into their lesson plans. Take a look at the National Education Standards promoted by the International Society for Technology in Education. The American Association of School Librarians (of which I am a proud member) has also published information literacy standards which address the use of technology in education.
Online technologies, also known as Web 2.0, provide numerous ways for home schoolers to learn, collaborate, create, and share. Web 2.0 applications include, but are not limited to, social networking sites, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video blogs, content creation applications, photo sharing, virtual worlds, and games. Using technology, homeschoolers can hold live, real-time classes online; video conference; collaborate on projects or assignments; deliver information in a variety of formats; create posters, mosaics, photo albums, stories, videos, etc; publish... the list goes on and on. And the best part it: KIDS LOVE THIS!!! Using online technologies engage kids in learning in ways that traditional methods never will. Ask a kid to write a report and you'll hear a lot of grumbling and complaining. Ask that same child to create a voicethread, wiki, or webquest on that same topic, and they can't wait to start.
Some of you may have noticed the Voicethread project included in the multicultural study of the year 1492. If you didn't look at it in the last post, take a look at it now http://ed.voicethread.com/share/379377/ . My daughter created this all by herself! I gave her the assignment, taught her how to use the technology, and just let her go! She loved this assignment, worked independently with enthusiasm and gusto, and was incredibly proud of the product. She didn't even mind doing all of the necessary reading and research. And boy, did she learn and remember the content. This is just one example of what home schoolers can do with the Internet and Web 2.0. Next time, some more information about Voicethread.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)